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SOME  OLD-TIME 
OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS 


BY 
THEODORE  W.  KOCH 

LIBRARIAN,   UNIVERSITY   OF   MICHIGAN 


REPRINTED  FROM  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW 
FOR  AUGUST.   1914 


NEW  YORK 
THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW  PUBLISHING  CO. 


Copyright,  1914,  by 
The  North  American  Review  Publishing  Co. 


SOME   OLD-TIME   OLD-WORLD 
LIBRARIANS 


BY   THEODOEE   W.   KOCH 


Mr.  Herbert  PuT]>fAM,  in  an  address  before  the  Ottawa 
meeting  of  the  American  Library  Association,  expressed  a 
hope  for  a  recognition,  a  re-cognition,  in  our  library  organi- 
zation of  that  type  which  gave  personality  to  the  old-time 
libraries.  However  indifferent  the  old-time  librarians  may 
have  been,  or  might  be  to-day,  to  the  mere  mechanism  in  our 
modern  library  organization,  Mr.  Putnam  said, 

they  succeeded  in  producing;  an  atmosphere  which  had  a  potency 
of  its  own.  It  was  that  which  at  once  took  the  visitor  out  of  himself, 
away  from  affairs,  and  gave  him  touch  with  a  different  world,  a  sense 
of  different  values.  Does  he  not  miss  it  noAv?  I  think  he  does;  and  that, 
however  he  may  respect  the  efl&ciency  of  the  modem  librarian  as  ad- 
ministrator, his  really  affectionate  admiration  turns  back  to  the  librarian 
of  the  old  school,  whose  soul  was  lifted  above  mere  administration  or  the 
method  of  the  moment,  or  the  manner  of  insistent  service,  and  whose 
passionate  regard  was  rather  for  the  inside  of  a  book  than  the  outside 
of  a  reader — even  the  librarian  to  whom  a  reader  seemed  indeed  but  an 
interruption  to  an  abstraction  that  was  privileged. 

The  prevailing  ideas  concerning  librarianship  have 
changed  so  radically  within  the  last  generation  or  two  that 
it  may  be  worth  while  to  study  a  few  types  of  the  old- 
fashioned  librarian.  The  modern  librarian  has  been  so 
concerned  with  schemes  of  classification,  card  catalogues, 
and  new  methods  of  housing  the  present-day  avalanche  of 
books  that  he  has  not  had  time  to  familiarize  himself  with 
his  forebears. 

I  must  resist  the  temptation  to  go  back  to  antiquity  as  a 
starting-point  for  our  study,  and  simply  allow  myself  one 
illustration  to  show  that  the  ancients  knew  a  good  librarian 
when  they  saw  him.  For  the  library  of  Pergamos,  Eumenes 
the  Second  tried  to  secure  the  services  of  Aristophanes  of 
Byzantium,  librarian  to  Ptolemy  the  Fifth.    To  assure  his 


Jib)4:iV6 


•  •  •  I*  ■ '~, , ' 

2'**'  •  *'' '  ^6'ME  * Oll)-l'IME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS 

remaining  in  Alexandria  the  librarian  was  cast  in  prison, 
a  simple  device  for  keeping  an  efficient  worker  when  he  had 
a  call  elsewhere.  But  in  this  paper  we  can  concern 
ourselves  only  with  librarians  who  have  come  on  to 
the  scene  since  the  invention  of  printing.  In  1475  Pope 
Sixtus  the  Fourth  made  Platina  librarian  of  the  newly 
organized  Vatican  Library.  Platina 's  account  -  book  has 
been  preserved  and  published,  and  from  this  can  be  seen 
the  varied  nature  of  his  duties.  The  librarian  had  to  at- 
tend to  the  purchase  of  books,  send  out  copyists,  procure 
skins  for  binding,  and  supervise  the  making  of  books  as  well 
as  their  use.  He  had  charge  of  the  reading-room  in  which 
the  books  were  chained  to  the  desks,  and  was  allowed  dis- 
cretionary power  in  the  lending  of  books  to  high  officials 
of  the  Church,  to  scholars,  and  even  to  strangers  sojourning 
in  Eome.  His  account  -  book  shows  that  he  looked  very 
carefully  after  the  comfort  of  the  readers,  and  that  he  knew 
the  men  whom  he  could  trust.  Platina  and  his  three  pages 
slept  in  a  room  adjoining  the  library,  and  they  were  diligent 
in  the  use  of  juniper  in  fumigating  the  rooms,  in  sweeping 
the  library  with  brooms,  and  dusting  the  books  with  fox- 
tails. Montaigne,  in  the  Journal  of  his  travels  in  Italy  in 
1581,  says  that  he  inspected  the  Vatican  Library  without 
any  difficulty.  ''  Indeed,"  he  adds,  "  any  one  may  visit  it 
and  make  what  extracts  he  likes ;  it  is  open  almost  every 
morning.  I  was  taken  to  every  part  thereof  by  a  gentleman 
who  invited  me  to  make  use  of  it  as  often  as  I  might  desire." 
Des  Brosses,  in  his  letters  on  Italy,  published  at  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  writing  of  the  Vatican  Library 
says  that  "  as  Cardinal  Quirini,  the  librarian,  is  also  Bishop 
of  Brescia,  he  is  always  away  in  his  diocese.  His  portrait 
in  the  antechamber  has  to  do  duty  instead."  The  copyists, 
he  added,  are  ignorant  and  dear. 

The  most  picturesque  figure  in  the  annals  of  Italian 
librarian  ship  is  undoubtedly  Antonio  Magliabecchi.  While 
his  official  position  as  librarian  to  Cosmo  III.,  Grand  Duke 
of  Tuscany,  gave  him  considerable  prominence,  he  is  re- 
membered more  especially  for  his  personal  characteristics 
and  his  vast  store  of  self-acquired  learning.  He  has  been 
described  as  a  literary  glutton,  and  the  most  rational  of 
bibliomaniacs,  inasmuch  as  he  read  everything  he  bought. 
His  own  library  consisted  of  40,000  books  and  10,000  MSS. 
His  house  literally  overflowed  with  books;  the  stairways 


SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS  3 

were  lined  with  them,  and  they  even  tilled  the  front  porch. 
Many  stories  are  told  of  his  marvelous  memory  that  was 
*'  like  wax  to  receive  and  marble  to  retain."  One  of  the 
best  known  of  these  stories  is  that  when  Cosmo  asked  him 
for  an  extremely  rare  book  he  replied,  "  Siguore,  there  is 
but  one  copy  of  that  book  in  the  world;  it  is  in  the  Grand 
Signore  's  library  at  Constantinople,  and  is  the  eleventh  book 
in  the  second  shelf  on  the  right  hand  as  you  go  in." 

In  worldly  matters  Magliabecchi  was  extremely  negligent. 
He  even  forgot  to  draw  his  salary  for  over  a  year.  He 
wore  his  clothes  until  they  fell  from  him,  and  thought  it  a 
great  waste  of  time  to  undress  at  night,  "  life  being  so 
short  and  books  so  plentiful."  He  welcomed  all  inquiring- 
scholars,  provided  they  did  not  disturb  him  while  at  work. 
He  had  a  hearty  dislike  for  the  Jesuits.  One  day  in  point- 
ing out  the  Palazzo  Riccardi  to  a  stranger  he  said,  '^  Here 
the  new  birth  of  learning  took  place,"  and  then  turning  to 
the  College  of  Jesuits,  *'  There  they  have  come  back  to  bury 
it."  The  Jesuits,  on  hearing  of  this,  characterized  him 
rather  cruelly  as  "Est  doctor  inter  hihliothecarios,  sed  hib- 
liothecarius  inter  doctores."  Magliabecchi  rejoined  with 
this  sally: 

Some  say  that,  after  all,  his  learning  is  not  so  great; 
The  learned  allow  him  but  librarian's  state; 
And  yet  in  sober  truth  it  must  be  said 
All  go  to  him  for  flour  to  make  their  bread. 

Unlike  some  scholarly  librarians  of  the  past,  ever  watch- 
ful and  jealous  of  manuscript  material,  which  they  them- 
selves planned  to  edit,  Isaac  Casaubon,  the  humanist,  was 
only  anxious  to  read  the  manuscripts  under  his  charge.  For 
the  most  part,  he  was  ready  to  leave  the  printing  to  others. 
Casaubon,  too  poor  to  buy  books  of  his  own,  said  of  his 
father-in-law,  Henri  Estienne,  who  jealously  kept  him  from 
gaining  access  to  his  books  and  manuscripts,  that  he  guarded 
them  '  *  as  griffins  in  India  do  their  gold. ' ' 

When  Casaubon  visited  the  library  of  the  learned  his- 
torian De  Thou,  of  which  he  had  heard  so  much,  he  found 
it  far  surpassed  his  expectations,  and  his  heart  sank  at  the 
thought  of  the  little  that  he  knew.  In  1604  Casaubon  was 
appointed  sub-librarian  in  the  Royal  Library  under  De  Thou, 
with  the  title  garde  de  la  librarie  du  Roi.  His  years  there 
were  the  happiest  of  his  life;  his  ideal  was  to  read  from 


4  SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS 

early  mommg  till  late  at  night.  In  his  Ephemerides,  a 
diary  in  which  he  recited  the  progress  of  his  studies  day 
by  day,  there  are  such  entries  as:  ''  To-day  I  got  six  hours 
for  study.  When  shall  I  get  my  whole  day?"  And  again, 
' '  This  morning  not  to  my  books  till  seven  o  'clock  or  after ; 
alas  me!  and  after  that  the  whole  morning  lost — nay,  the 
whole  day."  AYlien  he  was  able  to  have  a  whole  day  for 
his  studies  he  gratefully  recorded  the  fact  in  his  diary  in 
the  words  Hodie  vixi.  Frequently  the  only  entry  is:  "  My 
daily  task,  thanks  be  to  God!"  Not  knowing  how  long  he 
should  remain  in  Paris,  he  early  resolved  to  read  all  the 
books  in  the  Eoyal  Library  which  he  might  not  be  able  to 
find  elsewhere.  Consequently  he  did  nothing  in  the  way  of 
classifying  or  cataloguing  the  material  under  his  charge. 
When  any  one  asked  for  a  particular  book  he  tried  to  find 
it.  In  1608,  four  years  after  Casaubon  entered  the  library, 
Hoeschel  wrote  him,  asking  whether  the  library  contained 
any  manuscripts  of  Arrianus.  Casaubon  replied  that  he 
did  not  know,  but  would  look,  and  upon  searching  found 
two.  In  reply  to  Scaliger's  request  for  manuscript  frag- 
ments of  a  chronological  nature,  he  says  that  he  will  have 
a  thorough  search  made  through  all  the  cases.  No  wonder 
that  Mark  Pattison  in  his  life  of  Casaubon  said  that  "  the 
librarian  who  reads  is  lost." 

Casaubon  was  forcibly  reminded  that  he  was  the  King's 
librarian,  and  as  such  shared  the  obligations  which  the 
court  imposed  on  all  its  entourage.  He  was  not  permitted 
while  librarian  to  write  a  critical  review  of  the  Annals  of 
Baronius,  for  fear  of  offending  the  Church,  and  Roman 
influence  was  paramount  at  the  French  court.  When  Casau- 
bon visited  Oxford  he  was  hospitably  entertained,  but  he 
succeeded  in  reserving  many  hours  of  each  day  for  his 
studies  in  the  Bodleian,  an  over-indulgence  for  which  he 
paid  the  penalty  during  the  second  week  in  a  sudden  sense 
of  dizziness  which  seized  him  one  day  while  on  his  way  to 
the  library.  *'  None  of  the  colleges  have  attracted  me  so 
much  as  the  Bodleian,  the  work  rather  for  a  king  than  for 
a  private  man,"  said  Casaubon.  He  describes  his  own  feel- 
ings when  he  writes  Saumaise,  who  was  reveling  in  the 
treasures  of  the  Palatine,  that  he  "  must  be  suffering  the 
torment  of  Tantalus,  not  being  able  to  read  all  the  books 
at  once." 

A  younger  contemporary  of  Casaubon,   Gabriel  Naude 


SOME  OLD-TIME   OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS  5 

by  name,  was  destined  to  build  up  for  Cardinal  Mazarin  a 
library  which  outstripped  the  one  belonging  to  the  King. 
In  1642  Naude  was  invited  to  return  to  his  native  city  of 
Paris  and  begin  the  task  of  laying  the  foundations  of  a 
new  public  library.  Naude  had  previously  catalogued  the 
library  of  Descordes,  a  Canon  of  Limoges,  who  had  died, 
leaving  his  collection  of  6,000  volumes  to  be  sold,  and 
Naude  prevailed  upon  Mazarin  to  purchase  the  entire  lot. 
Then  all  the  bookshops  of  Paris  and  all  the  waste-paper 
dealers  were  canvassed  for  possible  treasures.  Naude  had 
been  at  his  task  but  little  more  than  a  year  when  there  was 
opened  in  the  Mazarin  Palace  a  public  library  larger  than 
anything  that  had  been  seen  before  in  the  French  capital. 
The  reading-room  was  open  once  a  week  on  Thursdays, 
from  eight  until  eleven  and  from  two  until  five.  Naude 
himself  counted  as  many  as  from  eighty  to  a  hundred 
readers,  among  whom  were  such  scholars  as  Hugo  Grotius, 
Aubrey,  the  historian,  and  Rene  Moreau,  Professor  of 
Medicine  at  the  University  of  Paris.  Before  long  the  num- 
ber of  volumes  reached  the  respectable  total  of  twelve  thou- 
sand, thus  exceeding  the  royal  collection  at  that  time  by 
approximately  two  thousand  volumes.  Naude  was  still  far 
from  satisfied,  and  undertook  a  book-hunting  journey  in 
Flanders,  which  brought  such  good  results  that  in  April, 
1645,  he  went  to  Italy  in  search  of  additional  volumes.  This 
last  trip  brought  into  the  library  fourteen  thousand  books. 
An  Italian  friend,  Vittorio  di  Rossi,  who  met  him  in  Rome 
on  this  trip,  has  left  an  account  of  Naude 's  method  of  book- 
buying.  According  to  this  writer,  Naude  would  enter  a 
bookshop  with  a  foot-rule  in  hand,  and  without  going  too 
much  into  details  about  the  titles,  would  ask  the  bookseller 
to  name  a  price  for  certain  piles  of  books.  The  bookseller, 
taken  aback  by  this  sudden  influx  of  wholesale  business, 
would  name  a  price  at  random,  which  Naude  would  beat 
down  by  degrees,  and  eventually  buy  in  the  books  at  such 
a  low  figure  that  the  bookseller,  seeing  too  late  how  he  had 
been  duped,  would  regret  that  he  had  not  sold  the  lot  to 
a  grocer  or  a  butter-man,  who  would  surely  have  given  him 
a  larger  sum  for  so  much  paper.  After  a  visit  from  Naude, 
the  bookshops,  says  di  Rossi,  appeared  to  have  been  swept 
by  a  hurricane  rather  than  visited  by  a  bibliophile,  and  when 
one  met  him  with  a  smile  of  satisfaction  beaming  through 
the  dust  and  cobwebs   that  covered  him,  his   lean  figure 


6  SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS 

swelled  by  the  volumes  wliicli  filled  his  pockets,  one  might 
readily  conjecture  that  he  had  just  come  from  a  particularly 
satisfactory  victory.  Naude  claimed  that  in  book-collecting, 
as  in  love  and  war,  all  means  were  fair.  He  was  famous 
for  his  ability  in  driving  a  hard  bargain.  There  is  on  record, 
however,  one  instance  of  his  having  been  outwitted  in  the 
buying  of  a  book,  but  it  will  not  be  laid  to  his  discredit 
when  it  is  known  that  the  other  party  to  the  transaction  was 
a  Scotchman. 

Perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  librarianship  was  that 
enjoyed  by  Diderot,  who  about  1765  decided  to  sell  his 
library  in  order  to  provide  a  dowry  for  his  daughter.  The 
Empress  Catherine  of  Eussia  heard  through  Grimm  of  the 
straits  to  which  Diderot  had  been  reduced,  and  instructed 
her  agent  to  buy  in  the  library  at  the  owner's  valuation. 
In  this  way  Diderot  received  not  only  sixteen  thousand 
livres,  but  he  was  graciously  requested  to  consider  himself 
the  librarian  of  the  new  purchase  at  a  salary  of  one  thou- 
sand livres  a  year.  Moreover — and  this  begins  to  sound 
like  a  fairy  tale — Diderot  was  paid  the  salary  for  fifty  years 
in  advance!  Needless  to  say,  this  was  only  a  pension  in 
disguise.    Catherine  wrote  to  Madame  du  Deffand: 

I  should  never  have  expected  that  the  purchase  of  a  library  would 
bring  me  so  many  fine  compliments;  all  the  world  is  bepraising  me  about 
M.  Diderot's  library.  But  now  confess,  you  to  whom  humanity  is  in- 
debted for  the  strong  support  that  you  have  given  to  innocence  and 
virtue  in  the  person  of  Galas,  that  it  would  have  been  cruel  and  unjust 
to  separate  a  student  from  his  books! 

Lessing  may  be  taken  to  typify  one  class  of  old-fashioned 
librarians,  the  men  of  letters  who  regarded  an  appointment 
to  a  library  position  as  a  sinecure.  Installed  as  librarian 
of  the  ducal  library  at  Wolfenbiittel,  Lessing  took  advan- 
tage of  the  privilege  of  the  librarian  of  his  day  by  substitut- 
ing the  writing  of  books  for  the  less  attractive  duty  of 
classifying  and  cataloguing  them.  His  successor  in  office, 
Langer,  was  very  bitter  in  his  criticism  of  Lessing's  ad- 
ministration, claiming  that  he  had  left  much  of  his  work 
undone.  He  even  offered  a  reward  to  any  one  who  could 
show  him  a  trace  of  Lessing's  handwriting  in  the  library. 
To  this  day  the  only  scrap  of  it  is  a  note  attached  to  a  col- 
lection of  engravings.  Geissler  wrote  Langer  in  1781,  saying 
**  that  Lessing  left  you  far  too  much  to  do  was  natural, 
because  he  was  a  genius,  and  this  class  seldom  do  their 


SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS  7 

duty,  but  always  follow  their  inclinations."  While  Lessing 
was  confessedly  weak  in  matters  of  routine,  he  was  strong 
where  the  general  welfare  of  the  library  was  concerned. 
He  proposed  a  good  plan  for  disposing  of  duplicates  and  fill- 
ing the  gaps  in  the  library.  It  was  also  specified  that  "  to 
the  mere  mechanical  duties,  the  librarian  was  to  attend  to 
just  as  much  or  just  as  little  as  he  pleased.  For  these  he 
was  to  have  two  assistants  and  a  man-servant.  His  main 
function  would  be  to  investigate  thoroughly  the  library  and 
to  bring -to  light  its  chief  treasures."  This  last  was  Les- 
sing's  principal  concern.  ''  A  catalogue  of  treasures,"  said 
he,  *'  is  good  enough,  but  it  is  no  new  treasure,"  which  is 
a  point  hardly  conceded  by  the  librarian  of  to-day  who  is  in 
tlie  midst  of  making  over  an  old  card  catalogue. 

So  much  for  the  old-fashioned  librarian  on  the  Continent 
Let  us  now  look  at  a  few  of  his  class  in  Great  Britain  and 
gather  some  illustrations  of  early  ideas  of  library  manage- 
ment in  that  country.  The  Bishop  of  Worcester  in  1464 
stipulated  that  his  librarian  be  a  graduate  in  theology  ana  a 
good  preacher,  and  in  addition  he  was  expected  to  explain 
hard  passages  in  the  Bible,  make  lists  of  books  in  his  keep- 
ing, and  take  an  inventory  of  the  library  each  year  on  the 
Friday  after  the  Feast  of  Relics. 

Sir  Thomas  Bodley,  in  the  first  draft  of  the  Statutes 
which  he  drew  up  for  the  administration  of  the  library 
founded  by  him,  explicitly  states  that  the  keeper  shall  open 
and  close  the  library  doors  at  certain  hours,  varying  with 
the  season,  and  that 

at  these  prescribed  hours  he  shall  cause  to  be  rung  the  warning  bell 
of  his  ingress  and  egress,  that  men  may  shun  the  discommodities  of  re- 
pairing thither  oversoon,  or  abiding  there  too  long,  which  the  difference 
of  clocks  may  occasion  very  often,  to  the  prejudice  and  hindrance  of 
himself  as  well  as  others. 

The  keeper  is  to  see  that  a  register  of  gifts  shall  be  kept, 

written  with  a  special,  fair,  and  pleasing  hand;  and  withal  to  be  exposed 
where  it  may  be  still  in  sight,  for  every  man  to  view,  as  an  eminent  and 
endless  token  of  our  thankful  acceptation  of  whatsoever  hath  been  given, 
and  as  an  excellent  inducement  for  posterity  to  imitate  these  former  good 
examples. 

The  founder  ruled  that  before  any  graduate  or  any  per- 
son of  note  would  be  given  the  privilege  of  the  Bodleian 
Library  he  should  appear  before  the  Vice-Chancellor  or 
his  substitute,  and  there  in  the  presence  of  the  Library 


8  SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS 

Keeper  he  should  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  library, 
w]]ich  was  to  be  administered  with  these  words : 

You  shall  Promise  and  Swear  in  the  Presence  of  Almig'hty  God,  That 
whensoever  you  shall  repair  to  the  Publik  Library  of  this  University,  you 
will  conform  yourself  to  study  with  Modesty  and  Silence;  and  use,  both 
the  Books,  and  everything  appertaining  to  their  Furniture,  with  a  careful 
Respect  to  their  longest  Conservation:  And  that  neither  your  self  in 
Person^  nor  any  other  whatsoever,  by  your  Procurement  or  Privity,  shall 
either  openly  or  underhand,  by  way  of  embezzling,  changing,  razing,  de- 
facing, tearing,  cutting,  noting,  interlining,  or  by  voluntary  corrupting, 
blotting,  blurring,  or  any  other  manner  of  mangling  or  misusing,  any 
one  or  more  of  the  said  Books,  either  wholly  or  in  part,  make  any  Altera- 
tion: But  shall  hinder  and  impeach,  as  much  as  lieth  in  you,  all  and 
every  such  Offender  or  Offenders,  by  detecting  their  Demeanour  unto  the 
Vice-Chancellor,  or  to  his  Deputy  then  in  place,  within  the  next  Three 
Days  after  it  shall  come  to  your  Knowledge :  so  help  you  God  by  Christ's 
Merits,  according  to  the  Doctrine  of  His  Holy  Evangelists. 

King  James  I.  was  so  appreciative  of  the  work  of  Bodley 
that  he  granted  letters  patent  the  year  after  the  library 
was  opened,  naming  the  library  after  the  founder,  whom 
he  later  knighted,  and  whose  name,  said  he,  should  have  been 
not  Bodley,  but  GodJey. 

Richard  Bentley  was  an  intellectual  prodigy  who  in  early 
life  fell  heir  to  the  cloak  of  librarianship.  He  coupled  with 
his  genius  for  scholarship  a  large  enthusiasm  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  learning,  and  with  a  daring  almost  insolent 
he  shook  oif  the  '^  clamors  of  the  half-learned  who  are  al- 
ways noisy  against  their  betters."  This  ever-pugnacious 
determination  to  carr^^  all  projects  through  a  maze  of  falsi- 
ties is  seen  even  in  his  career  as  royal  librarian.  At  thirty- 
one,  already  well  on  the  highway  of  scholarly  recognition, 
he  was  induced  to  take  the  vacant  office  of  King's  Librarian. 
His  first  step  was  characteristic.  To  such  good  use  did  he 
put  the  few  months  left  before  the  evaded  Licensing  Act 
expired,  that  the  significant  record  remains  that  he  '*  exact- 
ed near  a  thousand  volumes."  Bentley 's  next  step  was  to 
endeavor  to  secure  some  vacant  rooms  to  relieve  the  cramped 
condition  of  his  library  at  St.  James's  Palace.  The  Duke 
of  Marlborough,  his  neighbor  across  the  hall,  with  obliging 
diplomacy,  undertook  to  plead  his  cause,  with  the  result  that 
the  future  hero  of  Blenheim  *'  got  the  closets  for  himself." 
Not  disheartened  by  this  perfidy,  the  young  librarian,  after 
declaring  that  the  royal  library  was  **  not  fit  to  be  seen," 
started  on  what  Lord  Evelyn  warmly  called  his  **  glorious 


SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS  9 

enterprise  "  of  building  a  new  library.  The  Treasury  con- 
sented to  the  proposal,  but  the  bill  to  Parliament  was  shelved, 
owing  to  the  press  of  public  business.  In  the  mean  time 
Bentley  took  the  library's  chief  treasure,  the  Alexandrine 
MS.  of  the  Greek  Bible,  to  his  own  rooms  in  St.  James's 
Palace  in  order  that  *'  persons  might  see  it  without  seeing 
the  library,"  thereby  establishing  a  new  and  original 
precedent  in  library  economy.  Out  of  one  incident  in  his 
early  tenure  of  office  grew  a  quarrel  resulting  in  several 
curiosities  of  literature  and  one  masterpiece  of  scientific 
criticism.  Dr.  Aldrich,  the  dean  of  Christ  Church,  had  in- 
duced a  young  Oxford  man,  the  Honorable  Charles  Boyle, 
to  edit  the  Epistles  of  Phalaris,  and,  in  preparing  his  work 
for  the  printer,  Boyle  desired  to  consult  a  manuscript  in  the 
King's  Library.  Accordingly  he  wrote  to  a  bookseller  in 
London,  asking  him  to  have  some  one  collate  it  for  him. 

When  Bentley  took  charge  of  the  library,  in  May,  1694, 
he  granted  the  loan  of  the  manuscript  for  the  purpose,  and 
allowed  ample  time  for  the  work  to  be  done,  but  the  collator 
failed  to  complete  his  task  before  the  expiration  of  the 
time  of  the  loan.  The  bookseller  then  very  unfairly  repre- 
sented to  Boyle  that  Bentley  had  acted  churlishly  in  the 
matter,  and  Boyle,  without  verifying  the  story,  said  in  his 
preface:  **  I  have  also  procured  a  collation  as  far  as  epistle 
No.  40  of  a  manuscript  in  the  Royal  Library;  the  librarian, 
with  that  courtesy  which  distinguishes  him,  refused  me  the 
further  use  of  it."  Bentley  happened  to  see  an  early 
presentation  copy  before  the  bulk  of  the  edition  was  issued, 
and  he  at  once  wrote  to  Boyle,  saying  .that  the  statement 
was  incorrect,  and  gave  him  the  true  facts.  Boyle  sent  an 
evasive  reply,  but  let  the  statement  stand  as  written. 
"While  Bentley  was  urged  to  refute  the  slander,  he  remained 
silent.  "  Out  of  a  natural  aversion  to  all  quarrels  and 
broils,"  he  wrote,  with  what  later  seemed  refined  irony, 
*  *  and  out  of  regard  to  the  editor  himself,  I  resolved  to  take 
no  notice  of  it,  but  to  let  the  matter  drop."  A  few  years 
later  Bentley  reviewed  Boyle's  work  in  a  way  that  incited 
Boyle,  with  the  aid  of  half  a  dozen  Oxford  wits,  to  publish 
the  book  popularly  known  as  Boyle  against  Bentley,  in 
which  insults  were  heaped  upon  the  royal  librarian. 

In  1699  Bentley  was  appointed  Head  Master  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  and,  though  still  continuing  to  hold 
the  office  of  King's  Librarian,  he  removed  to  Cambridge. 


10  SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS 

Here  he  eontinned  the  policy  displayed  in  connection  with 
the  Alexandrine  manuscript.  When  Dr.  Conyers  Middleton 
became  librarian  of  Trinity  College  he  published  a  plan  for 
the  classification  of  the  books,  and  took  occasion  to  attack 
Bentley  for  retaining  some  manuscripts,  including  the 
precious  Codex  Bezse,  in  his  own  house.  But  Bentley  was 
always  able  to  fight  his  own  battles,  and  he  inaugurated,  by 
what  his  enemies  were  pleased  to  call  his  "  insolent  erudi- 
tion," that  famous  series  of  bitter  college  feuds  which  ended 
only  with  the  death  of  their  vigorous  and  valiant  instigator. 
Even  the  admiring,  kindly  Pepys  was  brought  to  admit  that 
'*  our  friend's  learning  wants  a  little  filing,'*  while  Bishop 
Stillingfleet  was  heard  to  agree  that  did  his  friend  Richard 
but  possess  the  **  gift  of  humility  he  would  indeed  be  the 
most  extraordinary  man  in  Europe." 

The  name  of  Bentley  brings  to  mind  that  of  a  later  clas- 
sical scholar  who  was  an  interesting  misfit  in  the  library 
world  of  a  century  ago,  Eichard  Porson.  His  professorship 
of  Greek  at  Cambridge  paid  only  forty  pounds  a  year,  and 
so  he  welcomed  the  additional  appointment  of  librarian  to 
the  newly  founded  London  Institution  in  1806,  at  a  salary 
of  two  hundred  pounds  per  year,  with  a  suite  of  apartments 
thrown  in.  '*  I  am  sincerely  rejoiced,"  wrote  Richard 
Sharp,  one  of  the  electors,  in  notifying  Porson  of  the  ap- 
pointment, ''  in  the  prospect  of  those  benefits  which  the 
institution  is  likely  to  derive  from  your  reputation  and 
talents,  and  of  the  comforts  which  I  hope  that  you  will  find 
in  your  connection  with  us."  To-day  the  only  existing  in- 
dications of  his  tenure  of  office  are  the  acquisition  during 
his  time  of  some  Greek  and  Latin  classics,  and  some  manu- 
script notes  in  a  few  volumes  in  the  library.  He  made  no 
attempt  to  catalogue  the  books.  The  managers  of  the  In- 
stitution wrote  him  to  the  effect  that  ^'  they  only  knew  him 
to  be  their  librarian  by  seeing  his  name  attached  to  the 
receipts  for  his  salary."  He  reciprocated  by  characterizing 
the  managers  as  ' '  mercantile  and  mean  beyond  merchandise 
and  meanness."  While  Porson  had  three  essentials  of 
librarianship — a  good  memory,  a  knowledge  of  books,  and 
imagination,  and  was  always  willing  to  dispense  information 
to  such  as  called  upon  him  for  it  —  yet  he  was  lacking  in 
methodical  attention  to  work.  Dr.  Parr  once  remarked  that 
"  if  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  at  the  head  of  his  Huns  and 
Vandals  were  to  burn  every  book  of  every  library  in  Cam- 


SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS  11 

bridge,  Porson,  being  as  Longiuus  was  said  to  be,  a  living 
library,  would  make  the  University  hear  without  books  more 
than  they  are  likely  to  read  with  books." 

Li  1752  David  Hume  was  appointed  librarian  of  the 
Faculty  of  Advocates  in  Edinburgh.  Hume  described  it 
as  "  a  petty  office  of  forty  or  fifty  guineas  a  year,"  and 
again  as  a  ^'  genteel  office."  He  accepted  it  because  it  gave 
him  **  the  command  of  a  large  library."  A  member  of  the 
Faculty  was  a  candidate  at  the  same  time,  but  Hume  got 
the  majority  of  votes.  **  Then,"  says  Hume,  *'  came  the 
violent  cry  of  Deism,  atheism,  and  skepticism.  'Twas  rep- 
resented that  my  election  would  be  giving  the  sanction  of 
the  greatest  and  most  learned  body  in  this  country  to  my 
profane  and  irreligious  principles."  The  ladies  sided  with 
Hume,  and  one  of  them  broke  with  her  lover  because  he 
voted  against  the  philosopher-historian.  After  he  had  been 
in  office  two  years,  Hume  was  censured  by  three  of  the 
curators  of  the  library  for  buying  the  Contes  of  La  Fon- 
taine, Bussy-Rabutin 's  Hisfoire  amoureuse  des  Gaules,  and 
Crebillon's  L'ecimioire,  deemed  indecent  and  ''  unworthy 
of  a  place  in  a  learned  library."  The  absurdity  of  the 
resolution  of  censure  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  these  works 
are  now  in  almost  every  library  which  makes  any  pretension 
of  being  classed  among  the  learned.  Hume  wrote  to  Lord 
Advocate  Dundas,  claiming  that  in  his  opinion  the  impro- 
priety did  not  matter  if  it  were  executed  with  decency  and 
ingenuity!  ''  Being  equally  unwilling  to  lose  the  use  of  the 
books,  and  to  bear  an  indignity,  I  retain  the  office,  but  have 
given  Blacklock,  our  blind  poet,  a  bond  of  annuity  for  the 
salary.  I  have  now  put  it  out  of  these  malicious  fellows' 
power  to  offer  me  any  indignity,  while  my  motive  for  re- 
maining in  this  office  is  so  apparent."  The  assistant  libra- 
rian, Goodall,  who  was  seldom  sober,  was  busied  with  his 
Vindicafion  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  while  Hume  was  writ- 
ing his  history  of  England,  and  the  library  was  left  to  run 
itself. 

The  director  of  the  British  Museum  formerly  had  only 
the  title  of  Principal  Librarian,  which  was,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, a  misnomer,  as  he  has  always  had  as  much  to  do  with 
the  antiquities  as  wnth  the  books.  To  him  is  intrusted  the 
custody  of  the  entire  museum,  his  duty  being  to  look  after 
the  welfare  of  the  whole  institution  and  to  see  that  the  re- 
spective duties  of  the  various  officers  and  subordinates  are 


12  SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS 

properly  performed.  The  Principal  Librarian,  as  house- 
keeper, had  also  the  nomination  of  the  housemaids,  until 
the  doubtful  privilege  passed,  in  Sir  Henry  Ellis's  day,  to 
the  principal  trustees. 

The  head  of  each  department  is  called  its  "  Keeper, '^ 
and  in  most  departments  there  is  also  an  Assistant  Keeper. 
These  titles  are  reminiscent  of  the  prime  duty  of  the  old- 
time  librarian.  One  of  them  once  consulted  the  trustees  on 
the  question  of  the  acceptance  by  the  Museum  of  a  certain 
anti- Christian  manuscript  by  a  learned  Jew  —  which  he 
argued  would  not  be  pernicious,  as  the  ignorant  would  not 
read  it,  and  the  souls  of  the  learned  were  of  little  importance. 

Dr.  Templeman,  the  first  superintendent  of  the  Reading 
Room,  seems  to  have  found  his  duties  rather  onerous.  After 
occupying  the  position  eight  months  he  asks  to  be  relieved 
from  what  he  considers  the  excessive  attendance  of  six  hours 
each  day,  as  this  *'  is  more  than  he  is  able  to  bear."  Under 
date  of  March  18,  1760,  it  is  recorded  that  **  last  Tuesday, 
no  company  coming  to  the  reading-room,  Dr.  Templeman 
ventured  to  go  away  about  two  o'clock."  Twenty  readers 
per  month  during  the  first  few  months  was  a  high  average, 
and  after  the  novelty  had  worn  off  the  average  dropped  to 
ten  or  twelve. 

The  early  librarians  at  the  British  Museum  were  little 
more  than  guides  appointed  to  show  visitors  around  the  in- 
stitution. In  1802,  three  attendants  were  appointed  to  re- 
lieve the  "  Under  and  Assistant  Librarians  from  the  daily 
duty  of  showing  the  Museum,"  and  they  were  given  an  in- 
crease in  pay.  As  late  as  1837  no  less  a  person  than  the 
Rev.  Henry  Francis  Oary,  Keeper  of  Printed  Books,  gave 
poor  health  as  an  argument  for  his  promotion  to  the  Prin- 
cipal Librarianship,  which,  as  he  said,  would  give  him  less 
to  do. 

Sir  Henry  Ellis,  when  he  was  Principal  Librarian,  de- 
fended the  closing  of  the  Museum  for  three  weeks  each 
autumn,  and  argued  that  if  that  were  not  done  the  place 
would  become  ''  unwholesome,"  and  that  to  open  it  during 
the  Easter  holidays  would  be  dangerous,  as  "  the  most  mis- 
chievous portion  of  the  population  is  abroad  and  about  at 
such  a  time."  He  further  argued  for  the  closing  of  the  in- 
stitution on  public  holidays,  on  the  ground  that  "  people  of 
a  higher  grade  would  hardly  wish  to  come  to  the  Museum 
at  the  same  time  with  sailors  from  the  dockyards  and  the 


SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS  13 

girls  whom  they  might  bring  with  them. ' '  From  this  it  can 
be  clearly  seen  that  he  was  not  in  touch  with  the  growing 
liberality  in  the  administration  of  public  institutions  and 
the  influx  of  democratic  ideas. 

In  the  opinion  of  many,  modem  librarianship  begins  with 
Sir  Anthony  Panizzi^s  administration  of  the  British  Mu- 
seum. An  Italian  carbonaro,  under  indictment  for  the  pub- 
lication of  a  pamphlet'  attacking  the  judicial  system  of 
Modena,  he  escaped  to  London,  where,  in  1831,  he  had  an 
opportunity  to  enter  the  service  of  the  Museum.  The  ad- 
ministration was  then  at  its  lowest  ebb.  The  Elgin  marbles 
and  the  King's  Library  had  just  been  acquired,  but  the 
regime  was  antiquated  and  the  policy  very  narrow.  Panizzi 
was  put  to  work  at  cataloguing  the  pamphlets  in  the  King's 
Library.  Owing  to  dissatisfaction  with  the  progress  of  the 
subject  catalogue,  the  trustees,  in  1834,  outlined  a  plan  for  an 
alphabetical  catalogue.  The  plan  was  an  unsatisfactory 
one,  but  Panizzi  was  put  in  charge  of  the  work.  As  he  did 
more  work  than  any  two  of  his  colleagues,  the  trustees 
raised  his  salary,  and  when  there  was  an  investigation  of 
the  administration  of  the  British  Museum  it  was  Panizzi 
who  contributed  the  most  important  evidence.  Valuable 
reforms  were  introduced,  and  Panizzi  became  Keeper  of 
Printed  Books  in  1837.  This  appointment  brought  out  a 
certain  British  anti-foreign  prejudice  against  Panizzi  which 
pursued  him  throughout  his  official  career.  There  were 
meetings  held  to  arouse  sentiment  against  the  promotion  of 
this  "  foreigner,"  and  a  speaker  on  one  of  these  occasions 
made  an  open  statement  that  Panizzi  had  been  seen  on  the 
streets  of  London  selling  white  mice!  At  the  time  of  his 
appointment,  the  collections  were  just  being  removed  from 
Montague  House  to  the  new  quarters,  serious  attempts  were 
being  made  to  fill  the  gaps  in  the  collections,  and  the  cata- 
logue was  being  attacked  in  real  earnest.  The  transfer  of 
the  collection  was  accomplished  with  remarkable  expedi- 
tion, but  the  progress  of  the  catalogue  was  less  satisfactory. 
The  responsibility  for  accepting  or  rejecting  the  supervision 
of  this  work  was  left  by  the  trustees  to  Panizzi,  and  with 
his  usual  courage  he  decided  to  undertake  the  task.  With 
the  assistance  of  Jones,  Watts,  and  others,  he  framed  a  set 
of  catalogue  rules  which  in  many  respects  have  never  been 
superseded.  An  insufficient  statf  and  an  unfortunate  de- 
cision of  the  trustees  (overruling  Panizzi 's  ad^dce)  to  pro- 


14  SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS 

ceed  in  strict  alphabetical  order,  occasioned  a  good  deal  of 
trouble  and  criticism.  The  attempt  to  print  one  portion  of 
the  catalogue  wliile  another  part  was  in  preparation,  before 
it  had  been  definitely  decided  as  to  what  the  main  entry  for 
many  items  would  be,  was  responsible  for  the  breakdown 
of  the  scheme.  After  the  publication  of  one  volume  in  1841, 
the  decision  to  print  the  catalogue  was  abandoned,  and 
Panizzi  persuaded  the  trustees  to  engage  an  efficient  staff 
of  transcribers  to  copy  the  titles  on  slips,  and  he  was  thus 
enabled  to  put  before  the  public  a  plan  for  a  comprehensive 
catalogue.  He  failed  to  see  the  advantage  of  a  printed 
catalogue  over  the  slip  catalogue,  and  was  more  concerned 
in  supplying  the  deficiencies  of  the  library,  a  task  in  which 
he  had  no  rivals.  By  submitting  a  list  of  the  needs  in  near- 
ly every  branch  of  literature,  he  procured,  in  1845,  an  an- 
nual grant  of  ten  thousand  pounds,  and  through  the  judi- 
cious administration  of  this  fund  the  Museum  rose  in  rank 
from  the  sixth  or  seventh  to  the  second,  if  not  the  first,  place 
among  the  libraries  of  the  world.  In  1848  dissatisfaction 
with  conditions  in  the  Museum,  due  to  lack  of  space,  was  so 
great  that  a  royal  commission  of  inquiry  was  instituted, 
and  as  a  result  of  Panizzi 's  success,  the  administration  of 
the  Museum  was  put  into  his  hands. 

In  temperament  Panizzi  was  strong  and  masterful,  but 
his  nature  was  warm  and  generous.  "  He  governed  his 
library  as  his  friend  Cavour  governed  his  country,"  said 
Dr.  Garnett,  ''  perfecting  its  internal  organization  with  one 
hand  while  he  extended  its  frontiers  with  the  other."  When 
traveling  abroad  he  always  rushed  to  visit  the  chief  libraries 
first.  At  Bologna  he  found  a  manuscript  catalogue  so  care- 
fully made  that  he  at  once  asked  whose  work  it  was,  and 
when  told  that  it  had  all  been  done  by  one  man  who  had 
written  every  title  with  his  own  hand,  Panizzi  insisted  upon 
seeing  him.  A  tall,  thin-faced,  threadbare  individual  ap- 
peared whom  Panizzi  plied  with  questions,  and  then,  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  attendants,  Panizzi  in  an  outburst  of 
Italian  enthusiasm  hugged  and  kissed  the  timid  cataloguer 
on  both  cheeks. 

Panizzi  was  one  of  the  most  conscientious  of  officials  and 
was  rarely  absent  from  his  post.  Sydney  Smith  wrote  him 
several  times  inviting  him  to  dinner  on  a  certain  date. 
'*  Receiving  no  answer,"  the  wit  wrote  later,  "  I  concluded 
you  were  dead,  and  I  invited  your  executors.    News,  how- 

voL.  CO.— NO.  705  17 


SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLt)'LiBKARlXN&* '*  ""i5 

ever,  came  that  you  were  out  of  town.  I  should  as  soon  have 
thought  of  St.  Paul's  or  the  Monument  being  out  of  town, 
but  as  it  was  positively  asserted,  I  have  filled  up  your  place." 

Next  to  Panizzi,  the  most  attractive  personality  in  the 
annals  of  the  British  Museum,  to  us  at  least,  is  Richard 
Garnett.  Like  another  native  of  Lichfield,  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson,  Garnett  will  be  remembered  more  for  what  he 
was  than  for  what  he  wrote.  To  carry  the  comparison  still 
further,  both  were  interpreters  and  left  volumes  of  critical 
biography,  both  were  poets  of  no  mean  order,  both  were 
story-tellers  and  entertainers  of  repute,  famed  alike  for 
their  friendships,  their  love  of  learning,  and  their  erudition. 
While  Dr.  Johnson's  most  enduring  monument  is  his  famous 
dictionary.  Dr.  Garnett  left  behind  a  printed  catalogue  of 
the  British  Museum  containing  four  and  a  half  million 
entries,  thereby  earning  the  gratitude  of  scholars  throughout 
the  world.  The  British  public  never  quite  forgave  Panizzi 
for  claiming  that  a  printed  catalogue  of  their  national  library 
was  too  big  a  task  to  undertake. 

Richard  Garnett  may  be  said  to  have  spent  his  whole 
life  in  the  British  Museum.  His  father  was  an  assistant 
keeper,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  the  young  man  was  made 
an  assistant  in  the  Printed  Book  Department.  Promotions 
came  rapidly  until  in  1875  he  was  made  Assistant  Keeper 
and  superintendent  of  the  reading-room.  Garnett 's  work 
as  ''  placer  "  or  classifier,  combined  with  his  rare  memory, 
gave  him  a  remarkable  command  of  the  resources  of  the 
library.  There  seemed  to  be  nothing  that  he  had  not  read 
and  few  subjects  that  he  had  not  studied  intimately.  Few 
men  of  his  time  knew  both  the  inside  and  outside  of  books 
as  he  did.  Whatever  the  subject,  he  gave  the  impression 
that  his  knowledge  of  it  was  fresh  and  waiting  for  use. 
Only  one  fall  from  grace  is  recorded.  Mrs.  Garnett  had 
brought  home,  after  a  country  holiday,  what  she  believed 
to  be  a  squirrel's  nest  which  she  placed  on  the  drawing- 
room  table  to  show  her  friends.  A  dispute  arose  as  to 
whether  squirrels  made  nests.  Mrs.  Garnett  appealed  to 
her  husband.  ''  Richard,  do  squirrels  build  nests?"  He 
hesitated,  then  replied :  '  *  I  really  do  not  know ;  I  do  not 
think  so.    I  must  look  it  up." 

Dr.  Garnett  was  so  endowed  with  a  sense  of  good  humor 
that  he  was  never  perturbed  by  the  chronic  fussers  who 
frequented  the  place.    A  blank-book  in  which  the  public  can 


16  SOME  OLD-TIME  OLD-WORLD  LIBRARIANS 

jot  clown  suggestions  for  the  improvement  of  the  service 
or  of  titles  recommended  for  purchase  has  for  years  been 
found  to  ease  the  public  mind.  The  authorities  make  a 
practice  of  entering  in  the  margin  a  reply  to  each  sugges- 
tion made.  When  a  reader  entered  a  request  that  some- 
body's life  of  Satan  be  obtained,  the  official  comment  read: 
*'  Purchase  not  thought  necessary."  Another  suggestion 
was:  ^*  Best  sixpenny  cookery  by  Josiah  Oldfield  does  not 
appear  in  the  catalogue,  but  should,  I  think,  be  procured, 
as  it  is  a  useful  vegetarian  work."  This  was  applied  for 
on  December  26th  —  note  the  date  —  and  was  promptly 
ordered.  There  is  a  class  of  beings  to  whom  it  is  a  great 
joy  to  discover  a  book  title  that  is  not  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, or,  if  there,  cannot  be  found  for  the  time  being,  or  is 
wrongly  described,  as  they  think,  in  the  catalogue.  "  So  you 
see,  sir,"  said  Dr.  Johnson  on  an  occasion  of  this  kind, 
*'  when  it  was  lost  it  was  of  immense  consequence,  and  when 
found  it  was  no  matter  at  all." 

Garnett's  administration  of  the  reading-room  was  char- 
acterized by  a  large  increase  in  the  ijumber  of  readers,  the 
placing  of  special  bibliographie^s  in  the  room  to  supply  as 
far  as  possible  the  want  of  a  subject  catalogue,  the  forma- 
tion of  a  second  library  of  reference  in  the  gallery  in  the 
reading-room,  and  the  introduction  of  electric  light.  The 
mere  mention  of  electric  light  shows  that  we  have  come 
down  to  our  own  day,  and  we  must  take  leave  of  the  old- 
time  librarian.  Naturally  the  atmosphere  of  the  modern 
public  library,  with  its  rush  and  hustle,  proved  uncongenial 
to  the  old-fashioned  librarian.  The  less  rapidly  changing 
college  and  university  libraries  harbored  him  much  longer, 
but  with  modern  efficiency  tests  I  suppose  that  he,  too,  is  to 
be  driven  even  from  that  last  resort.  The  following  has 
been  suggested  as  an  appropriate  epitaph  for  him : 

"  He  loved  his  library  and  his  books  more  than  the  ser- 
vice of  his  fellow-men." 

L^pon  the  librarian  of  to-day  devolves  many  problems  not 
dreamed  of  by  his  forerunners.  But  the  success  of  the 
library  and  its  utility  always  have  been  and  always  must 
be  measured,  to  quote  Lord  Goschen,  largely  by  the  "  af- 
fability and  competence  of  the  librarian."  What  is  wanted, 
according  to  this  wise  old  statesman,  is  a  librarian  who  will 
suffer  fools  gladly  and  who,  when  asked  foolish  questions, 
will  guide  the  questioners  aright.        Theodore  W.  Koch. 


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